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I share the Word of the Week every week. It started last Summer when Allison Diamond of the SnapDays Bot asked me to do this as a regular thing on Snapchat. It is a fun way to start a conversation with friends and utilize my Daily Affirmations Card Deck. This post contains affiliate links and links to purchase items. See my dislosure for details on why I write articles like this on my blog.

I simply pull a random card each week and show the card on Snapchat. That has lead to a wonderful way of expressing my insights and has opened discussions with people around the world through social media. Now, I have an Amazon Alexa Skill that can be enabled (if you have an Alexa Echo or Dot device) in your Flash Briefings and hear the Inspiring Adventures Word of the Week any time you want.

I post an image every week on Instagram and share my thoughts on how the word applies to my life.

Why Do I Want My Own Alexa Skill?

I am a blogger and a live streamer and I host shows on Facebook, but when I started doing the word of the week, it became something that centered all of those things. Using the words from my deck helped me to keep my focus and remain mindful of my core values. My best friend and working partner, Cindy Harrison, asked if we could use the word of the week in her art projects too, and then we started using them as the theme for the live shows. Now, everything makes sense! Inspiring Adventures is the overall theme of everything I do, that is at the base of who I am and what I am doing here, and it always has been.

Why not make Inspiring Adventures my main focus on social media as well? Why not share it with everyone? When I first heard about Flash Briefings, I knew I had to have my message available in that form of media. I was thrilled when the easiest way to activate this goal came to me in an email from online educator, Jen Lehner. She teaches all the cutting edge technology and I have learned many tips from her about OBS, Twitter, Instagram, and now Alexa!

OR simply say this out loud within ear shot of your Alexa device:

I also share the word of the week on the Anchor App, Apple Podcast, Google Play, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, and Pinterest. Chances are, I am catching you in at least one of those places! And that is the point – to connect with you. These are ways for you to connect back too! I want to hear from you!

This is the best part about the word of the week, it gets people talking and sharing their thoughts and insights. On Anchor, there is the ability to call in, here on the blog, you can type in comments, on social media you can reply with comments, direct messages, or with video messages. If you want to be involved in the Inspiring Adventures Community, I encourage you to join the group on Facebook!

Beautify Your Digital Life with Photofy!

I love trying new apps!The ones that stick and become my favorite go to apps for daily tasks are the best. Here is one that I highly recommend. Photofy. It may not be new to you, but it is to me!

This is a sponsored post and I was given a pro account by Photofy to use for feedback purposes. Please see my disclosure for details on why I write articles like this on my blog. All the opinions are my own and I was not paid to write a review. I created all the photos used in this article myself using the app – in fact they will seem very self-serving because they are all my actual photos! I hope you find the content as fascinating as I do! (A little shameless plug never hurt anyone.)

Here is an example of a template I am using from Photofy. These are pre-loaded on my phone ready to pop up on Instagram every month!

I heard about Photofy a few months agowhen I asked John Andrews if he would like to be a guest on my live show, Last Night’s Show with Miz Meliz. He told me that he was so busy because he just took on this new role as CEO of an app called Photofy. I checked it out and it looked pretty cool, another graphics app that I could use on my phone to make memes. Awesome, right? I do that a lot. So, I told him I would love to talk to him about it on the show…and that happened!

I am so excited to announce my special guest is John Andrews!

Many of you will remember him from Collective Bias.

Check out the interview:

Or listen to the audio podcast:

I have been using Photofy pretty often lately. I’m not sure yet if it will replace my other go to apps for graphics. I have two I use regularly for certain things and they serve me well. But I will say that I find myself using it more and more and I really like it for it’s quality, ease, and fresh looks. Also, Photofy provides a wide array of useful templates, photos, and phrases that can be easily applied to my own style. That makes what I do so much easier. And, obviously, making things easy is important to me – I have just used the word “easy” like ten times! (Okay, five. But still!) Ted Rubin calls Photofy “a valuable, and easy to use, content/influencer branded collaborative content solution.” I am not the only one who values ease of use! Yeah baby~

Here is another thing I love about this app – it has a la carte pricing. You don’t have to pay anything to use it and there are a lot of cool built in features. But to unlock some awesome features it is only $1.99 one time! Then there are special packages you can add when and if you need them, and once you do, you always have access to those tools. You can build your arsenal of design tools as you go and as you grow with the app. I love that! I don’t always want all the capabilities up front, it’s too much to handle, I don’t end up using them, and I often throw in the towel. This allows me to explore the app, find what I need and add on what I want when I am ready. Super!

The Watermark – with the pro account you have the option of removing it. In many cases I leave it on. It is located prominently, like a badge and serves as a credit. It’s a great way to show partnership with the brand.

Here are the amazing features that Photofy has to offer – I find these very strong for a phone app:

ADJUST

Adjust your canvas’ aspect ratio to be square, portrait, landscape or specific photo sizes, and zoom in on your photo.

RATIO

Choose a an apsect ratio for your photo and crop away the parts you don’t want.

FILTERS

Enhance your photo with our many filters and take control of brightness, contrast, and saturation to get the perfect look for your photo.

INSTASQUARE

If you’re an instagram lover, use instasquare to get it to the square shape.

LIGHT FX

Use the light effects to get your photo the lighting it needs.

MIRROR

Use the mirror tool to create different reflections of your image.

PHOTO BLUR

Blur part of your photo to emphasize an object in the photo.

SHARPEN

Clean up the edges and give your image a cleaner look with the sharpen tool.

Now that I have been using Photofy for awhile and see how valuable it is for me and for my business, I am ready to try all the capabilities of the pro account. The pro account is a monthly fee of $10.99 which is pretty standard as apps go.

Pro Features – this is great for businesses and really has the digital marketer at heart:

Photofy Business – App Features

CUSTOM OVERLAYS

Create your own or get assets tailored specifically to your business to enhance your brand and message across all social media platforms by the Photofy design team.

PRO BACKGROUNDS

Pro Backgrounds allow you to preload stock photos to provide a strong starting point to create beautiful photos representative of your business. This feature is available starting with the Pro Basic subscription level, and the number of stock photos you can store scales with the larger plans.

PRO TEMPLATES (DESIGN FEES APPLY)

Let the Photofy Design Team create custom templates based on your style guide for you to streamline the creation of branded posts. They will design the layout, all you need to do is add photos and adjust the text. No need to think about fonts or layouts – just create.

PRO SHARE (CUSTOM ENTERPRISE FEATURE)

Easy reposting of a predesigned image and text. Corporate design and marketing teams can create the perfect post and allow subscribers to share in seconds.

PRO FLOW (CUSTOM ENTERPRISE FEATURE)

Show off your brand and streamline content creation with a white labeled user workflow and customized feature set.

“Photofy has now been around for over 3 years, the app has become very sophisticated, and we think perfectly suited for marketing and shopper teams, and distributed workforces.” -Ted Rubin

The stock photos on Photofy are stunning and they are available on the basic account @photofyapp

I’ll be sharing much more about Photofy in the weeks to come on my social media, and you can find out more about it and Photofy’s CEO, John Andrews on my Live show, Last Night’s Show with Miz Meliz and on the Inspiring Adventures Podcast

When I first met Zef Zan online I thought she might be a little too zesty for me. She is a zippy little ball of energy that talks fast and fires lots of information in every live broadcast she does. At the time I was still finding my zen. But I knew she had some special appeal and I wanted to know more about her. One thing is certain, she has always been very nice and encouraging and I had a sense that at the right time we would have a chance to come together. I finally had an opportunity to work with Zef as a co-host for a segment on her recent Momentum Tribe Virtual Summit and last week she sat down with me for an interview for Inspiring Adventures.

Her zealous nature shining through, she shared her story and explained how she actually found her zone. It has been a crazy road and her journey has been difficult to say the least, that’s what makes this zany lady one in a zillion!

The Legacy Life of Carew Papritz

by Melissa Reyes

January 23, 2018

It doesn’t surprise me that Carew Papritz is a dynamic storyteller who is passionate about his book, The Legacy Letters. What surprises me is how creative and intriguing his journey has been as he has been promoting the book and bringing his message to readers around the world.

Carew and his book are all about firsts and onlys. It’s the “first book in publishing and literary history to win awards in both fiction and non-fiction categories,” he says proudly.

He is the only author who has ever signed books on horseback, on a train, from the top of Mount St. Helen’s – – he even did it while stomping grapes at a vineyard! Papritz was also the first American author to do a “post Castro” book signing event in Cuba. He is willing to do what it takes to share his inspiring stories, the insightful, introspective, guidance manual for life, the letters to the children, the legacy letters. They are his letters. They were written for all children. Kind, comforting, prophetic, they are only part of the story.

Check out this short preview:

Live Life to the Fullest

The central message of the book is “live life to the fullest,” says Papritz, as he explains how he wrote the book as he went through a major life defining moment. He learned about himself through the writing process and from time to time he realizes he “needs” to read his book for a reminder to go slow. The fatherly advice in the book covers a “hope chest” of timeless values such as integrity, kindness, empathy, politeness, humility, and love.

Some people have found the book uplifting and inspiring, and it has been touted to be a Rorschach Test of sorts, to “see what you need to see at that point in your life.” This is how it got it’s non-fiction status. It has become a life lessons book.

Carew challenged me to open the book at a random page and just read to see what it was like. WOW! Check out page 109. That’s all I have to say. He calls that part of the story “the everything and nothing of money.”

Every hour lived is an hour spent. Spend well the quality of your time. -Carew Papritz, The Legacy Letters

Ultimately, Carew’s own legacy is for his own family. His wife and son are the focus of his life. He is mindful of every moment and lives his best life with them. He calls this his Legacy Life.

See the entire Inspiring Adventures interview with Carew Papritz exclusively on Facebook.com/BubblrMedia on Tuesday, January 23rd at 6:00 PM PST

5 Ways Leaders Can Achieve Personal Wellness – And Inspire It In Others

Leaders in companies and organizations often face enormous demands on their time, but the best leaders realize they can’t let those demands become so overwhelming that their health suffers as a result.

“Successful leaders prioritize personal wellness, both at home and at work,” says Kerry Alison Wekelo, author of Culture Infusion: 9 Principles to Create and Maintain a Thriving Organizational Culture (www.kerryalison.com).

And those who don’t prioritize personal wellness should realize it’s not too late to make it a New Year’s resolution for 2018, she says. Plus, taking care of themselves is also a great way for leaders to inspire others throughout the organization to do the same.

“Team members will be more inclined to focus on their own well being if they see the leadership team making it a priority,” says Wekelo, who is managing director of human resources and operations for Actualize Consulting. “It’s better for the entire company when everyone strives to be physically and mentally fit.”

In her own life, Wekelo says she follows five guiding values for personal wellness. They are:

• Breathe. Many people forget to breathe during the day, Wekelo says, though she’s not talking about breathing to stay alive. “On any given day we are going to experience moments of stress,” she says. “Focusing on taking a few long, slow breaths can help calm you down.”

• Move. Movement is another way to take care of your well being. “Many of us are sedentary most of the day, sitting at desks then lounging at home in the evening,” she says. “We are not made to sit like this all day every day.” To get moving, you don’t need to schedule time at a gym for an aggressive workout. She suggests stretching while at your desk and taking time once an hour to get up and walk, even if it’s just to walk to somewhere else in the office.

• Play. Children love to play, but adults forget they need to take time to play as well, even if it’s just a game of cards or charades. “Next time you find yourself stressing, give your brain a break and call your inner child out for a play date,” Wekelo says.

• Nourish. No matter how smoothly life is going, there will always be conflict, so you should handle it directly, openly and immediately. When you do, you will be nourishing your relationship with those employees and they will have the opportunity to nourish themselves. “Take the approach that everything is a learning opportunity and work with your employees on how to improve rather than running them into the ground and making them feel even worse,” Wekelo says. “If they know you care and support them even in hard times, you will have their loyalty.”

• Replenish. Life gets hectic, so it’s important to set aside time for reflection, introspection, meditation or just plain quiet time. “My best ideas come from my quiet time,” Wekelo says. “I am sure that’s why so many of the great pioneers, artists and scientists spend hours each day walking and contemplating.”

“As you consider your own personal well-being, it’s important to remember that you create your life and how you feel,” Wekelo says. “Change starts at the individual level.”

About Kerry Alison WekeloKerry Alison Wekelo (www.kerryalison.com) is managing director of human resources and operations for Actualize Consulting. She also is author of Culture Infusion: 9 Principles to Create and Maintain a Thriving Organizational Culture. Among her other accomplishments, Wekelo is a yoga teacher, life coach, award-winning author of children’s books, and the founder of Zendoway, a company that encourages holistic wellness.

Disclaimer: The information in the article above was provided by the representatives at News & Experts, an agency that has connected me with Ms. Welelo. I am looking forward to meeting Kerry and having her on Inspiring Adventures as a featured guest. She certainly has wonderful advice to give and can inspire us to take action!

I am going on a new adventure! Wanna come?

My intention is to thrive in every area of my life, just like last year, and all along my life’s journey. I have always hoped to inspire you to thrive as well. This year is a little different. This year I am taking action. This year we move! Are you ready? I am! Let’s go!

It’s not a challenge, or a motivational plan. My intention for 2018 is to turn it on. To activate all the plans. To make things happen. I have been looking forward to this year for a long time. My focus has been on development and growth for the past decade and now I am ready to rock what I know and do the things I have been dreaming about.

My goal is to help people to realize their full potential and make their dreams come true by taking action. #ACTION2018

I’ll use all the inspiration and motivation that got me this far to activate real change and acquire my core desires. If you are ready to do this too, awesome! If you aren’t quite there yet, I totally understand and I can guide you and support you at any point on your journey. We are all on our own path.

We will use the themes from the Daily Affirmations inspired by A Year in Bloom to keep us centered, energized, and filled with positivity and hope. These words, the card deck, the book, journal, and concept, all came from the intentions and challenges from 2017 and I am blessed and amazed at how much they are a part of everything I do. Thanks to the encouragement and support (and countless hours of help) from my best friend, Cindy Harrison, we will always have them to help us. Cindy and I will be posting and sharing a theme for each week that we will use on our shows and incorporate in our classes, and on our websites, to unify and guide our groups and each other throughout the year. This past year we found this practice to be a wonderful way to grow our businesses as well as deepen personal relationships. We improved our self-care and brightened our outlook on life. We both feel strongly that we have all the tools we need to succeed and reach our dreams. The best part is, we want to help you do this, too!

I will keep striving to be my very best, healthiest, and happiest every day. But, more than that – – I will take action and make my dreams come true. I will take action and deliver my promises. I will take action and fulfill my destiny. I will execute the plans. I will take the initiative. I will make the first move. I am calling the shots. This is it. It’s time to activate and set the plan in motion. Let’s go! 2018 is my year of action!

I am wearing my Word for the Year on my #MyIntent MyIntent.org Bracelet as a Daily Reminder #Action2018

My goal is to help people to realize their full potential and make their dreams come true by taking action.#ACTION2018

What I AM DOING

My intent is for MizMeliz.com to be a source of inspiration in 2018 and it will be my pleasure to deliver it to you through:

Product Reviews

Book Reviews

Author Interviews

Art and Entertainment

Event Coverage

Travel and Destination Highlights

Live shows and web series: See links to all the shows below!

“MizMeliz.com” ties together all of my passions and talents like a big bouquet of vibrant blooming flowers.In 2017, my goal was to incorporate my love of creativity, inspiration, and connecting with people to make a positive impact. It was my intent to develop, grow, and shine, together! It was my hope for us to be at our best, healthiest, and happiest all year long! I believe we surpassed this goal. With all my heart, I believe my Year in Bloom produced a beautiful bouquet of flowers that represent every special moment that I will treasure always.

This year, let’s go on an adventure that takes us to the ends of the earth! There is nothing stopping us! Walt Disney said, “All our dreams can come true if we have the courage to pursue them.” If you are dreaming of making a change, big or small, you can do it. I believe in you. I believe in myself and I believe in my dreams. Melissa Reyes, Delivering Inspiration

2017 was my year in bloom. I declared it a year to grow, thrive, and bloom. I created a Facebook group called “A Year in Bloom” and I set out to help people and myself experience the healthiest, happiest, and best year ever. Did I fulfill my intention? It’s time to look back and reflect on the year and look at the bouquet of beautiful blossoms and blooms, thorns and all!

January and February

Introductions, Vision Boards, Intentions, and lots and lots of words define how I started 2017. I began collecting words and sharing phrases and a word of the day to inspire and be inspired. It was a challenge to post a word every day, and I did it for about three months and those words helped to shape amazing discussions. This started an idea, a seed if you will, that got me thinking about a daily intention practice. That seed grew to what developed into my Daily Affirmations Card Deck and Guide Book!Bloom!

I met and introduced many lovely people to the group through my show, Inspiring Adventures. The overall theme was Kindness. Gabriela van Rij, Kindness Activist and the Kindness Diaries, Leon Logothetis are two people who I will never forget. I think that theme stayed with me all year and had the most impact! It was amazing to interview so many inspiring people and every single one of them brought a meaningful sense of knowledge and added beauty to my life’s bouquet. Bloom!

March and April

In March, I started thinking about being powerful and taking control of my own life. I empowered myself to be healthy, happy, and successful. I created my Daily Affirmations Card Deck and Guidebook. Cindy and I started using the themes when we planned the Paint with Heartprojects. It has been amazing how the themes apply to everything we do, from the interviews to the art projects, to my work at the school, life coaching, live streaming – everything! Bloom!

April

This spring, my spirit united with Chakra Dyana meditation practitioner, Maria Humphreys. Maria has become part of my daily life and she has inspired me in countless ways. I started seeing how the practices that I put into place in the beginning of the year were affecting me. I was feeling healthier because I had made major changes in my daily routine, consuming less sugar, taking vitamins and minerals, and drinking more water. Maria motivated me to increase my mobility and restart practices of strength training and meditation as well. Having an experienced physical therapy and fitness expert to be an accountability partner, who was willing to just be on “stand-by” whenever I had a question was a major inspiration! Bloom!

May and June

This time of year brought many delightful moments. One of the most interesting coincidences that happened was my Balloon Festival Experience. Attending my son’s graduation from college was one of the highlights of my life and proudest moments! Attending Rose’ Day, VidCon, and covering the Premiere of Not a War Story were all amazing things I was privileged to do! Going to these events and sharing them through social media and on my blog is so much fun. Bloom!

July

It was my birthday month and I was off work from the school for four weeks. Rather than celebrating, I spent the time connecting with my online business partners and planning for BubblrMedia. I never worked so hard or enjoyed my work so much before! Connecting with social media marketing friends online lead me to join an initiative on Twitter called #VideoReplyDay which seemed like an added task but turned out having a life-enhancing benefit. After the whirlwind months of attending events and working inside the home studio, I wanted to get away – so I took a long weekend road trip to Chama, New Mexico. I met up with one of my BubblrMedia partners, Emily Shatters and her kids. This was a time for growth.

When I returned to work, one of the most frightening experiences of my life happened. I suffered an attack of Bells Palsy. It happened just two weeks before I was supposed to speak at the ConnectHer conference. I was stunned. It took every ounce of my energy and strength to get through that difficult time without losing the momentum I was on. I had come so far and had so much planned, I was afraid I would have to stop doing what I loved. I realized that I needed to follow all of my own advice and apply all of my knowledge and believe in myself and things would work out for the best. And you know what, they did! Bloom!

August and September

I was still recovering and going to physical therapy for my face, I was getting back into the swing of things, I was back to work at the school and trying to start a new business with BubblrMedia. I missed Cindy while she was on her vacation to Europe and August seemed like a long month of preparation. Cindy and I went all in with new shows when she got back and we made a big commitment to BubblrMedia. We produced four weekly live shows on Facebook including Paint with Heart, Cre8this, Inspiring Adventures, and Last Night’s Show with Miz Meliz. We met lots of people and spent many hours onscreen! Bloom!

I made a commitment to attend all the activities at my son’s school for his senior year as well, so that meant attending a Drama Parent Meeting, a Homecoming Game, and some Retreat Meetings. In the midst of all this I had my bi-annual physical exam and blood tests. I had amazing results that made me feel really good! First, test results showed that the Bell’s Palsy had been caused by an acute virus . That explains why the medication the ER doctor prescribed worked and the paralysis healed completely. My blood tests also showed that my Diabetes is under control and in fact, I am healthier than I have been in years!Bloom!

October and November

In October I had the opportunity to attend VidSummit and I made the decision to learn as much as I can about YouTube. As things started to wind down for Inspiring Adventures interviews and A Year in Bloom, the Holidays and family time started to take a forefront. Cindy and I began recording the 2017 Paint with Heart Christmas Ornament Collection video series and I enjoyed prepping for the holidays. We also started attending online webinars to educate ourselves on the many aspects of teaching online and using YouTube to reach our audience and help more people.Bloom!

For Thanksgiving, Lito and I took the boys up to Chama, New Mexico. After being there in the summer, I had to go back with the rest of the family! It was so beautiful! We connected with more of our family who live in New Mexico and made a new business decision to add to the growing online business – virtual tours and aerial photography! Lito and Roman’s drones took their maiden voyage in Chama on our cousin’s property. We are now gearing up to start serving clients in the New Year! I am starting a business with my husband, I can hardly believe it! Bloom!

December

There were a lot of challenges this year. Some were personal and private, others happened to all of us, as a society, in our community, our country, our world. We suffered some set backs. We encountered some devastating blows. We experienced pain, hurt, loss, and grief. But, like any living thing, we continue to thrive with some tender loving care.

My Year in Bloom produced so many blossoms which looking back have created a lovely bouquet of fulfillment. I set intentions and focused my mind on what I wanted to see happen for my life’s vision and made it my mission to do the things I love while making it my happiest, healthiest, and best year yet. It tickles me that so many of the things on my Pinterest Vision Board that I first posted in 2012 have come to life! For the most part, 2017 was a wonderful year, perhaps one of the best yet! The best part was sharing it with you. You inspire me. I hope I inspired you too!

I have two more blog posts that I want to complete before I start my new word and plan for 2018. I want to share a list of all the people I interviewed and met in 2017 who made it an Inspiring Adventure for me and tell you how you can connect with each of them. I also want to share with you my list of 100 people I want to meet and interview in 2018 and why. I am really excited about what is to come in the next year, my 50th year on this earth, and no matter what – you can be sure I will be sharing it with you!

This week I have been asked to participate in #GuruChats, a bi-monthly event on Twitter for startups, small businesses, digital marketers, graphic designers, web designers and design creatives. I am uber excited to be involved with this amazing organization and I look forward to the chat. I love Twitter chats because they help me to get to know the real people behind the profiles on social media platforms. I a learn, make friends (not just “build relationships”) and I have had the opportunity to express my opinions and share my knowledge and experience with other people around the world in a way that I never thought possible. And you can, too!

Here is the plan for the LogoDesignGuru.com chat:

Once your business website is up and running, the real challenges and opportunities start. You want to target and convert customers, while be in the good books of search engines like Google, Yahoo and Bing as well. So how do you do this? In this #GuruChats we’ve invited Elena Terentyeva to give us the lowdown on how small businesses and startups can use SEO and SEM to optimize their online presence, boost their reach and garner customers through traffic.

Elena Terentyeva is Product Marketing Manager at SEMRush, an SEM/SEO company. She also has extensive experience in public relations, content, finance and broadcast journalism.

If this is your first time on a Twitter chat here are some guidelines you might find useful:

1. You may use Twitter.com to follow our chat by using the hashtag #GuruChats in the search bar or you can use Tweetdeck, Tweetchat or any other Twitter aggregators to simultaneously interact with participants and follow the chat, again searching for #GuruChats.

2. Since people will be following the chat even way after the scheduled hour, be sure to include the hashtag #GuruChats when you comment or answer a question or interact with tweeters.

3. Twitter restricts users by the number of characters you can use in each tweet. This means you’ll have to condense your idea or thoughts within a 140-280 characters limit. A smart way to go about this is pre-draft your answers or use visual aids, such as an image.

4. On the day of the chat be sure to log in 5-10 minutes before the scheduled time to get ready and be prepared for any glitches.

5.Your host at #GuruChats will start off by launching questions one by one specific to the topic in this order Q1, Q2, Q3 etc. You may answer the questions as they are posted or schedule your answers according to the time they’re posted. Mark your answers as A1, A2, A3 etc. to correspond to the respective question numbers so people will know which question you’re answering to.

6. Feel free to interact with other participants, give tips, ask questions, answer questions or any kind of knowledge you feel like sharing during the chat. Be sure to add #GuruChats with your every tweet.

Check out the chat live and join in the conversation, or check back here to see my answers along with a longer discussion and my thoughts on SEM and SEO and how I use this in my strategy for MizMeliz.com as well as all my business online when I share my answers next week in a new blog post.